PARIS— In proceedings held here April 3, the full Codex Committee of General Principles (CCGP) again rejected the inclusion into a new draft of a precautionary principle, which would have allowed governments to take certain preventive measures for foods in cases where scientific evidence on the safety of the food is uncertain. The International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA) monitored the debate, which included many governmental and other organizations—such as the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) USA—that believe such a principle would be used to create unjustified trade barriers. This marked the third unsuccessful attempt to include a precautionary principle in key Codex documents.
“The new document just accepted by the Committee appropriately follows an earlier one by excluding the precautionary principle, an action needed to help assure fair opportunities for trade in supplement products,” said John Hathcock, Ph.D., vice president of scientific and international affairs for CRN (www.crnusa.org).
“The introduction of this principle has been consistently rejected since the Codex principles were first drafted,” noted David Pineda, manager of regulatory affairs for IADSA (www.iadsa.org). “However, the text is at an intermediate stage of the Codex procedure and changes can still be made. There could, therefore, be attempts to include this principle into the text during the next Commission meeting later this year, which will have to consider this week’s decision of the CCGP.”
